Microsoft Offers Help Shifting iPad Apps To Windows 8 Metro Conversion

Microsoft has published a case study aimed at helping designers convert their mobile applications from iOS to Windows 8.

The case study uses a photo app to show the differences between the two operating systems and attempts to convey the advantages of developing apps for the Metro interface, such as its minimalist design and consistent features.

Lost in translation

Microsoft says the aim is to show developers how to translate these user interface elements and experience patterns from iOS to Windows 8, using the development team’s own experience of porting the photo app. Layout and navigation, commands and actions, contracts such as search and share, touch, orientation and views, and notifications are all discussed.

The development team applied a more minimalist approach to the app when converting it for Windows 8, removing all UI elements that weren’t directly related to its functionality, while making it so that more content was accessible from the hub screen, removing the need for navigation. Even when navigation is needed, direct manipulation such as pinching to zoo is applied.

Commands are hidden in the app bar control so that the screen isn’t cluttered, and can be summound by swiping the app bar from the bottom. Microsoft says that all Metro style apps can use the app bar, meaning that users will be familiar.

Search is more centralised and is able to look for relative content across all apps which support the contract, while sharing functionality allows items to be sent to social networks and other apps.

It was also stressed that because iOS runs on standardised hardware with a fixed screen size, it was necessary to take into account the fact that Windows 8 will be running on many different devices and what content is shown depends on the screen.

Dell and Nokia are reportedly readying devices for the operating system, which Microsoft pledges will work equally well with both tablets and traditional PCS as it is able to switch between a tiled interface and a desktop mode. It hopes that this dual system will give it a potential inroad into the tablet market when it is released, possibly as early as this October.

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